My first reaction to this is that it's pretty cool. You gotta wonder where a deer like that came from being that there aren't any facilities nearby that would be an obvious source for an exotic species.

I do agree with Woodsie that it's poor judgement to shoot ANYTHING if you aren't positive about what you're shooting. However, I don't think this guy would shoot a horse or a lab. Horses and dogs are species that would be easily recognizable to most people here in the US. Even being able to tell the difference between elk, mule deer, whitetail, etc would be something that most hunters could easily do. However, we're talking about a species of deer that is for the most part NEVER seen here in the wild. There would be absolutely no reason for him to suspect that a giant bodied deer out there is anything but what he's hunting. Especially when there were whitetail bucks hanging with it.

I heard a story from first session gun season in my county about a guy who picked off a coyote with his muzzleloader at about 120 yds. Walked up and realized that it didn't really look like a coyote... They called the DNR, who came and identified it as a Red Wolf... He took the animal without issuing any tickets. My point is, there aren't really supposed to be any wolves around here (even though there are... I saw one last season up close from my treestand), so the guy wouldn't have any reason to expect that it could be something other than a coyote....

I mean, the only visual difference in his deer was the size (being that whitetail deer have so much variation in actual color), so he knew he was shooting a giant deer, just not a different species.

Deebz: Where in N E Illinois? There was a gray wolf killed last December near Big Rock by a coyote hunter, and where I hunt in Ogle County they've seen and heard a pair of grays out there too. They are here!

Iroquois County... basically about 5 minutes form IN straight East of Peoria. I was just talking with my Dad last time I was home (Ottawa area), and he was telling me they've got multiple trailcam pics of mountain lions through there as well...

I wish the DNR would just be open and honest with us about what's in our woods. I know they don't want people targeting them to eradication, but knowing what's there can prevent normally law-abiding hunters from killing protected species accidentally.

I agree with Deebz. I also agree with most about knowing your target. The thing is that this guy honestly thought that he was shooting a huge doe and had no reason to believe otherwise. To compare it to shooting someones horse or cow is ridiculous. Make no mistake about it, this was a true wild deer. Those of you that say this is livestock or someones penned up pet, do you think you could have walked toward it with a bucket of grain and had it come to you? No way. My wife is from New Zealand and I have been there many times and have helped her relatives work farmed red deer. They are not tame deer even when they have been raised in captivity. It doesn't take pigs long at all to go feral and wild and it takes a red deer even less time.

In Michigan, any non game species that is not protected, is fair game.
3 years ago a local game ranch had three elk get out. I wished everyday that one would walk by me.
I'd let that arrow fly so quick..... WW would be speachless.

I'm happy for that hunter and I think we should use this forum for good things..... not to b!+ch about how everyone else acts. That's what the news is for.

Once again.......it's not that he shot what he reasonably thought was a whiteail deer. It's the fact that HE STILL THOUGHT IT WAS A WHITETAIL DEER, ALBEIT A BIG ONE, AFTER HE WAS STANDING OVER IT!!!! And this was from a person who was described as an "experienced" deer hunter.....RIIIIGHT.......

And THAT, my friends, does leave me speechless. If you can't understand that, then I guess there's no further point in me wasting anymore words.

Once again.......it's not that he shot what he reasonably thought was a whiteail deer. It's the fact that HE STILL THOUGHT IT WAS A WHITETAIL DEER, ALBEIT A BIG ONE, AFTER HE WAS STANDING OVER IT!!!! And this was from a person who was described as an "experienced" deer hunter.....RIIIIGHT.......

And THAT, my friends, does leave me speechless. If you can't understand that, then I guess there's no further point in me wasting anymore words.

Once again.......it's not that he shot what he reasonably thought was a whiteail deer. It's the fact that HE STILL THOUGHT IT WAS A WHITETAIL DEER, ALBEIT A BIG ONE, AFTER HE WAS STANDING OVER IT!!!! And this was from a person who was described as an "experienced" deer hunter.....RIIIIGHT.......

And THAT, my friends, does leave me speechless. If you can't understand that, then I guess there's no further point in me wasting anymore words.